


Knowing

by funkyorange



Series: Knowing Series [1]
Category: Whitechapel (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, snapshots in time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-09
Updated: 2015-02-09
Packaged: 2018-03-11 09:12:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3321905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/funkyorange/pseuds/funkyorange
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of little snapshots in time for series one in which Kent/Chandler happened way before the series started.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Knowing

**Author's Note:**

> I know I should be working on my other fics, for both this fandom and others, but...it grabbed me and wouldn't let go.

“You’ve got that do on tonight, haven’t you, love?” DC Emerson Kent called to his lover of two years, DI Joseph Chandler, as he made two cups of tea (earl grey for himself, green tea for Joe).

“It’s not a ‘do’, it’s a work function,” Joe accepted the tea his boyfriend had brought him, thanking him with a smile. “I’m actually going to find out where I’m being posted tonight, so it’s important.”

“I know,” Kent smiled, blowing on his tea. “I’m on call, so I might be out when you get back, but hopefully it’ll be a quiet night out there. Might get a good night’s sleep instead of being dragged out to investigate the case of the missing credit card.” He wiggled the fingers on his free hand as he said the last words, letting his voice take on a slightly deeper tone.

“Credit card fraud is a big deal,” Joe joked, although it was slightly hard to tell, as his posture or tone of voice did not change from a slightly scolding tone. Luckily, Kent knew his lover as well as he did, and didn’t take offence.

“Well, tonight’s going to be just me, a tub of ice cream, and several episodes of Grand Designs,” he smiled. “And then a lovely long shower and sleep. It sounds heavenly. The skip’s been driving us up the bloody wall.”

Joe picked up his tea, sipped it, and stood. “I’d better go and get ready,” he said softly. “You have a good night, and I’ll see you in the morning. Order a pizza or something, I know you don’t get much chance with me about.”

“Hey,” Kent put down his tea as well, standing next to his lover. “I’d rather have you than pizza, Joe. We’ve been together two years now, and I’m pretty sure you’re the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. We’ve both compromised things for this relationship to work, and everything’s worth it, because I love you, warts and all.” He paused. “Not that you have warts, love.” He leant forwards and kissed Joe gently, before giving him a gentle nudge in the direction of the bedroom. “Go on, big shot. Go get ready.”

“I love you too. I hope you do get that quiet night in.”

 

A few hours later, Kent was settling into the sofa with a cup of tea, reading glasses perched on his nose, a battered copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy in his hands. Grand Designs played in the background, the soft sounds and familiar words lulling him gently into sleep. Just as he was about to nod off, his phone rang- the annoying, loud marimba ringtone he had set for work. He cursed, scrambling to mute the TV, put down his tea and book, and answer his phone at the same time.

“Hello?”

“Kent, it’s me,” DS Miles, a.k.a. ‘the skip’, said on the other end of the line. “C’mon, get yourself up and at em, we’ve got a body.”

“Right,” he shook himself awake, looking at the clock. “Where is it?”

As Miles told him the location, he wrote a quick note, knowing Joe wouldn’t tear himself away to answer his phone.

_Dear Joe -_

_Been called out. Hope you’ve had a better evening than I will have- standing over a body’s never much fun. There’s some sushi in the fridge. REMEMBER TO EAT IT._

_I love you._

_Kent. x_

Grabbing his coat, wallet and a scarf, he left the note on the kitchen table whilst assuring Miles he would be there as soon as he could. Miles’ grumpy “You need to learn to drive” was the last his superior told him before hanging up.

 

As he approached the crime scene, he noticed Miles, McCormack, Sanders and Fitzgerald huddled in a corner. He joined them quietly, slipping into the group without a sound.

“Apparently we’ve got a new DI coming,” Miles said. “Some posh paper policeman, no idea what to do out here.”

“Should’ve stuck to the desk job,” Sanders crowed.

Kent flinched, knowing that this was likely what Joe’s new team would think of him- he knew that Joe was good at what he did, excellent, in fact, but his lover’s new team wouldn’t. All they would see was a slightly odd bloke in a suit who didn’t look or act like them. He himself already stood out- he was younger, less messy, both a byproduct of living with Joe and his own natural neatness, less loud (with a twin like Erica, he’d blended into the background a little, and had found it suited his nature) and less brash, preferring to quietly get on with what he needed to do than making a fuss about it.

Miles explained the situation quietly, sending them all to their tasks with an air of resignation- it wasn’t the first body they had seen, and certainly wouldn’t be the last, but it never got any easier. Kent knew they tried to shield him from the worst of the job, as when the others were inspecting the body he was talking to witnesses, and this had not changed today.

“Mrs Bousfield? My name’s DC Kent, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?”

The small mousy-haired woman nodded, and then said quietly, “Call me Mary.” She looked shocked.

“Okay, Mary. If you need a little more time, that’s okay,” he said softly. “I know it must have been a big shock.”

She nodded again. “Can you just…talk?” She asked with a sniff. “I just need to hear a friendly voice right now.”

“Of course,” he soothed. “I don’t really know what to talk to you about, to be honest. I can tell you about my partner, they’re going to a big work’s do, and when I don’t prompt them, they forget to eat…”

“He sounds like high maintenance,” she said.

“Yeah, he is,” Kent relaxed. It was always nice to not be judged on your sexuality, especially at work. “We’ve been together two years. Coming up to three, actually, our anniversary is in just a couple of months. I’m thinking about asking him, to be honest.”

She smiled. “It’s nice to hear that there’s some happiness in the world.”

“I know. My first case, I went home and called my sister and cried down the phone to her for about an hour,” he sympathised. “At least I knew what I was getting into.”

“I was just walking down the street and I heard this gurgling,” she whispered. “I thought it was kids, you know? So I went in there to look, and she was just lying there and there was so much blood…”

As Mary was talking, a new car had pulled up on the scene. He didn’t turn to look, keeping all his attention on the witness, but as she fell silent and he finished writing, he heard people approaching. He turned, expecting a new stranger, but instead was faced with the shocked blue eyes of his lover.


End file.
